years earlier who were deeply disappointed with the trajectory of the obama presidency and disappointed in two ways. number one, disappointed that barack forgot many of the people, most of the people, who were essential to his political rise. 8:00 easternht at on c-span's "q&a." >> representative karen handel is one of the newest members of congress after winning a special election in georgia's sixth district. declared the most expensive house raise in u.s. history. u.s. history.in >> we are talking with representative karen handel. you have been in washington for a couple of weeks. what has it been like?

rep. handel: it has been a whirlwind, but what an ordinary opportunity to represent the people of the sixth district of georgia. >> what was the most surprising thing you have picked up on in the last two weeks? rep. handel: not too much was surprising. we have a lot to get done and make sure on the issue site and the policy side, and getting the team put in place. >> most representatives come in with a learning curve, but you are coming in in the middle where you are dealing with a debt ceiling and a budget situation. how do you bring yourself up? rep. handel: i am a studious individual, so i spent every evening catching up on issues and as many briefings as i can get to, i go to. we had a taxreform briefing yesterday evening, and my

colleagues, not justfrom the georgia delegation but across the entire caucus havebeen extraordinarily helpful in spending time with me if it is before a set of votes in committee, a bill markup to help me get up to speed answer my questions. >> do you have a mentor? someone specific as a colleague that you have been relying on? rep. handel: congressman doug collins has been terrific and congressman drew ferguson. he and i serve on education and workforce together. several of the female members we have a tightknit group. so they have really made sure i know my way around. >> some people mentioned bringing a team together. what kind do you have to build on the technical and support side to come together to do your job?

rep. handel: coming in, i have a short window. most of secretary price's team were well-versed in the health care issue. they all went with him to hhs. it is a good thing and a bad thing where i had a completely open palette to start over. have a strong director, chief of staff and we are filling out the rest of the team. >> tell us about the day-to-day. rep. handel: i am usually here by 7:00 or 7:30. i catch up on the news, look at the votes, get briefed. briefings, committee meetings, usually votes in the midmorning and votes again toward midafternoon, late day. >> you talked about people you are depending on, and you mentioned secretary price who served in this position. newt gingrich -- did they offer you advice?

rep. handel: i have extremely big shoes to fill with the leadership in thisposition. secretary price has been a longtime friend and mentor.he and i still try to carve out time every week to chat on thephone a little bit about the issues in the district and all of those things. he has been terrific. >> you live in georgia, serve georgia but you grew up in washington, d.c. rep. handel: i grew up in southern maryland. my husband and i have been in maryland for 25 years. it is our home and where we have spent all eight months of our marriage. it is interesting to be back in the washington, d.c. area.

>> what took you from this area to georgia? handel: my husband's job. i was working in the bush-quayleadministration and we were not reelected, so we knew that incareer paths, it would take us somewhere else. georgia andmetro atlanta was number one on our list. he got a job promotion to go to atlanta and we said, let's check it out. when we got there, within three months i said, i love it here, i have told my dad but you have to tell your mother. >> we will keep our home in georgia where we live right in the heart of the sixth district and i will commute back and forth. one of the ways i keep my feet on the ground is to make sure that i do my grocery shopping and go to church with the people that i represent and it is important for me to keep his circle of friends who are not in the world of politics because they don't care about any of this.

>> what do you hear about that? rep. handel: i get a little pass for the first couple of weeks but my friends are not in the political world. they will be very straightforward with me. that is a grounding perspective that is needed. >> you work for marilyn quayle. i read somewhere that you developed a mantra for yourself as far as how you define yourself. what is that it why is it important? representative handel: i think you are probably talking about the fact that she said he never let other people define who you are, that you define yourself through your convictions. through your words and your actions.

to be that to the fullest extent can.sibly i've always appreciated the opportunity she gave to a young girl who did not know anything about politics, did not have a college degree. she took a big chance on me. >> not knowing about the world of politics, you say you ran for several positions. now?do you make of that representative handel: to be true to myself and my convictions and to make sure that when i am looking at a particular issue, i'm looking at it to the lens that is best and right. don't try to find a solution basedon politics, find the best solution and management politics after. ask what made you decide to run for this position? know, -- rep. you

handel: as you know, it was the special election. there were 18 of its to start with. it was just incredible, that number of candidates. i really made the decision to be back in the private sector. but after a lot of soul-searching and contemplation with resolving my husband, it did seem like the right thing to do. an extraordinary opportunity. >> it was not an automatic yes in your mind? we always drive up for christmas. nine hours up and nine hours back. 18 hours of chewing on an issue -- it's a long time. it is also a commitment for him. i wanted to make sure that he wanted toor it and i

contribute.could i'm not a political soundbite kind of person. i am more of a policy person. in this time where we as republicans have to move from what i call local opposition and into an era of governing, that is a good fit for me and that was a deciding factor. >> the money spent in this race must have been a big factor on both sides. what do you think about that, especially come campaign time? rep. handel: it was a lot of money, and up seen amount of money spent on the congressional race. only history can look back at this and make a determination around how we got into a placeof an balance and money versus the

individual voice of the voter. what i will say is that in this race, one of the big success factors for me was the fact that i had such a long tenure in the district and the people in the district -- many of them i know. so there were personal relationships. that mattered to people and across political lines. i it wasn't a republican thing or ademocrat thing, it was a friendship thing. >> how do you plan to make an impact? rep. handel: i am privileged to serve on the judiciary, education and the workforce. i am not a lawyer so i can bring a different perspective to the

table. we were talking about the opioid drugepidemic and there was a lot of talk about the legal aspect. at the end of the day i hope i can bring the moms and dads who are dealing with their children facing an addiction, or gosh for bid,putting an education side of it. some of those labor and workforce issues are important to me and as someone who worked her way up, i understand how important a solid k-12 education is. we need to make sure that our young people have the skills and education that they need to do what comes next. and might be going into the workplace, it might be going into a technical college but we have an obligation to make sure whatever path life takes them. >> representative karen handel, serving the sixth district of

georgia. they keep very much. rep. handel: thank you. at,. wecs relaed to the have two guests. we have lisa mascaro, who covers congress for the "l.a. times" and "chicago tribune." and tara palmeri from politico. later on, border security with rendon judd, president of the what can be seen in a pro and on. hand, people will look at